Foremost among cryptic neuroimmune diseases is one variously known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease. The Center’s mission is to promote research to identify its cause(s), biomarkers, and pathophysiology in order to lead to prevention and effective treatments.

The Cornell Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease encompasses a variety of projects on ME/CFS supported by federal grants, foundations, and private donors. The Center spans several programs at Cornell, the Hospital for Special Surgery, and the medical practice of Dr. Susan Levine. Input into the Center’s efforts is provided by patient advocates. Past efforts from the Center included collaborations with Weill Cornell Medicine, Ithaca College, the Boyce Thompson Institute, the Workwell Foundation, EVMED Research, and the medical practices of Dr. John Chia and Dr. Geoffrey Moore.

Our U54 Center award U54NS105541 from 2017-April 2023 was co-funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH Office of the Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Human Genome Research Institute. In 2023, Cornell University was awarded 5 years of funding from the NIH to maintain the Cornell ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U54AI178855). The award supports three research projects that cover subject interactions, muscle tissue, immune cell dysfunction, cell-free RNA, extracellular vesicles cargo, and multiomics. Data integration is facilitated by the Center’s Research Core led by Jen Grenier at Cornell University, and by the NIH ME/CFS Data Management and Coordination Center at RTI International.